Antiques in Insadong

I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy the area of Insadong in Seoul. Although it is extremely touristy, I feel it is immensely popular for good reason. The streets and alleys are made of brick and much of the architecture is of an older style. There are mountains and temples surrounding the area and there are many antiques and interesting tourist trinkets to be purchased here.

I love the antiques and dusty old things for sale on the streets.
I love the smell of food cooking from carts as I walk by.
I love the hustle and bustle and people weaving through crowd.
I LOVE Insadong market!

Dealing With Cultural Differences

Lately, I have been trying to examine the feelings I have about Korean culture now that I have been here a good 6 months and have a better understanding of how things work. There are certain things about living and working here that make me uneasy. These feelings can contribute to culture shock. I love psychology, so naturally, I am very interested in this subject!

In any case, I took this information from a website I came across explaining why one would suffer from "Culture Shock." After reading this information, I wanted to shout a resounding "YES!!!!!!!" This site totally nailed it in terms of why one might feel so strange in a different place.

What are the causes of culture shock?

• Being cut off from cultural signals and known patterns of communication, especially the subtle, indirect ways of expressing feelings.
• Living or working over an extended period of time in a situation that is ambiguous.
• Having personal values (which were previously considered absolutes) brought into question.
• Being continually put into positions in which you are expected to function with maximum skill and speed, but where the rules have not been adequately explained.

The following chart explains the difference between American culture and Korean culture.

MONOCHROMATICE CULTURES	POLYCHROMATIC CULTURES
Take time commitments seriously	Time commitments are an objective to achieve, if possible
Adhere religiously to plans	Change plans often and easily
Emphasize promptness	Base promptness on the relationship
Short-term relationships	LIfetime relationships
Do one thing at a time	Do many things at once
Respect for private property Seldom borrow or lend	Reciprocal obligations Borrow and lend often and easily
Low context (one says what one means)	High context (words are not the full picture)
North America, UK, Germany, Switzerland & Scandinavia	France, Italy, Latin America, Spain, North Africa, China, Japan, Korea

Quite interesting, right?

Korean's flag held by a child

Today in Insadong, I wanted to take a picture of this cute tot with Korean flags. Her parents made her pose :)

A Day in Itaewon

Last Saturday, I needed to get a few things in Itaewon, the foreigner's district of Seoul. First stop, Hannam Market to get Tums, Cheetos, Gardetos, and Oreos. What a sinful and yet delightful treat!

I also took a trip to Harley Davidson right up the street. How frickin' cool to see bad-ass Korean motorcycle guys in leather and chains everywhere!

I also found "Love Love" one of the only adult stores I have seen in Korea. Among other strange delights, I also ran into a strange assortment of masks in an alley. I have to admit, Itaewon's grimy streets have grown on me a bit.

Ghetto Fabulous Mannequins

I love the crazy mannequins outside of the stores in Seoul. Window shopping:)

Doctor Whazzup?!

Check it out! In Myeong-dong they have cute doctor dudes dancing and rapping to entice people to come in. Yay!

Wrapped up just for you!

I bought a blindboxed figure recently and got incredibly lucky to pull this cutie out of the box. In addition to being cute, she is wearing nothing but the yellow ribbon she is all tied up in. Yay!

The Worthless Won

I am soo very scared because the value of the South Korean Won has dropped about 10 cents (per US dollar) in the last week or so. Although this is not the first time for this to happen, I feel very worried about being here in this country for the first time. Basically, with the current exchange rate, I am making less dollars here than at my former factory job in Iowa City. Considering that I still have bills to pay back home, this totally sucks!

The other worrisome thing that has been on my mind recently is the developing tensions between North and South Korea. North Korea is putting together an army as we speak. North Korea has torn up all peaceful agreements with South Korea, siting hostile intent. Government officials have stated that the two Koreas are "on the brink of war."

This leaves many questions on my mind concerning the safety and well-being of a person currently living in Korea. At what point should the country be considered unsafe and should we foreigners bail out on the country? Is the pitiful amount of money I am making enough to keep me here?

Yikes!

I've Got Just One Magic Trick

I love my little bunny magician girl! She makes me happy every time I glance over at her:)

Preschool Valentine's Cuties

Call me maternal or whatever but I think my little preschoolers are so very cute! While they tend to be monsters most of the time, when they are busy with scissors, glue, and crayons, they can be pretty darn adorable and non-obnoxious.

Sarah Y. showing off her Valentine's Day heart guy.

Mingi being innocent for a moment before doing something bad.

Jiho- a total sweetheart and overachiever at the tender age of 6.

Jenny actually finished something! Her little heart guy looks great.

Jay being his usual precocious self.

Eddie doesn't care to learn English but that doesn't stop him from being kinda sweet.

Christina D. is a rare child from another planet.

Hena learning the ways of women by being sweet to Matthew only to get what she wants.

Erica, my new little class spazz.

Christina J. and Tina being besties.

Brianna is always rocking the princess dress get-ups and pink glasses.

Its hard to believe someday Albert and June will run Samseong and get drunk off of Soju together every night, singing at Norebang with high dollar call girls. Or maybe not. But still!


In March, these preschoolers get to move on to Kindergarden and I get a new batch of naughty little bundles of energy to tear my hair out about. Fun, fun!